Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

18 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Physician's communication style can influence HPV vaccine rates, study finds By Gabrielle Masson P hysicians can improve HPV vaccina- tion rates through better communi- cation practices, according to a study published in Pediatrics. For the study, researchers from the Univer- sity of Colorado Anschutz Medical Cam- pus in Aurora surveyed 588 pediatricians and family physicians on HPV vaccine delivery practices between July 2018 and September 2018. Researchers found that physicians who use a presumptive style — or recommend the HPV vaccine as strongly as other adolescent vaccines for meningitis and Tdap — have higher acceptance rates among patients. e number of pediatricians who strongly rec- ommended the vaccine for 11- to 12-year-old females increased from 60 percent in 2013 to 85 percent in 2018. is figure increased from 52 percent to 83 percent over the same time period for 11- to 12-year-old males. e study also suggests providers could use alert systems and standing orders in medical records to further improve HPV vaccine delivery. "A physician recommendation is one of the most important factors in vaccine acceptance by parents," Allison Kempe, MD, lead author and professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told Med- ical Express. "However, we're seeing a lack of understanding from healthcare provid- ers about the need for vaccination early in adolescence and high rates of refusal on the part of parents. e vaccine is underutilized, with less than half of American adolescents completing the vaccination." n Why few pediatricians discuss meningitis B vaccine with patients By Mackenzie Bean M any pediatricians are missing out on opportu- nities to discuss the meningitis B vaccine with teen patients and their parents, reported The Washington Post. Meningitis B outbreaks often occur among college stu- dents living in close quarters. About 20 college students contract the disease annually, and about 12 percent of cases are fatal, according to Sarah Mbaeyi, MD, a pedia- trician who studies meningococcal disease for the CDC. Most students do not enter college vaccinated against the disease, since the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices does not recommend mandatory vaccination. Instead, the panel says vaccination should be based on "shared clinical decision-making." Only 51 percent of pediatricians and 31 percent of family physicians said they "always or often" discuss the meningitis vaccine with patients, according to a 2018 study published in Pediatrics. "The problem on the provider side is that there are so many required vaccines to discuss and that it's under- standable that a vaccine that's not routinely recommend- ed would get overlooked or be considered a lower priority," study author Allison Kempe, MD, director of the Adult and Child Center for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science at the University of Colorado Den- ver, told The Washington Post. n How to guarantee the best patient satisfaction survey scores By Andrea Park I f administered at the right time and analyzed correct- ly, consumer evaluations can not only demonstrate how likely users are to recommend an organization's services, but also uncover operational vulnerabilities, according to Harvard Business Review. Most evaluations are administered only after the user experience is complete — for example, as a patient is checking out of the hospital or several weeks after an appointment. "But conflating all of the customer's experiences into one summary judgment leads to lost opportunities," per HBR. Instead, consumers should be surveyed at several points throughout their entire experience so their scores for any particularly stressful or mundane parts of the experience do not overshadow those of the best, most efficient segments. Knowing the high and low points of the entire "consumer value chain" can then inform the organization's actions. When hoping to increase referrals, for example, organi- zations should offer opportunities to send recommen- dations immediately after consumers reach the most satisfying parts of their experience. And when looking to improve the experience, organizations can admin- ister surveys at the least satisfactory areas, then devise ways to reinforce those weak points. n

• Cover